Category: Paintings that Inspired the Poems

Three mischievous monkeys perch on a roof in this large surrealistic scene. I love imagining their gossipy conversation, so of course I had to put

I’ve spent years trying to read the stories behind this scene. An older couple sits before a lavish feast. Their posture is stiff —unnaturally posed

What’s real? What’s deception? What is the sad-eyed woman trying to say? This playful Renaissance toys with classical motifs. The painting inspired early drafts of

This enormous canvas brims with sin. Even the balloons have naughty details! This painting inspired a poem that appears in Of Burgers & Barrooms, an

In a dramatic desert landscape, navel oranges form a whimsical pyramid on an African birthing stool. This painting loosely inspired one of the poems in